Put Your Money Where Your Data Is

There’s a misconception about automotive digital advertising. Many in the industry believe that consumers do not want to be targeted. That’s not exactly correct. Consumers do not want to be wrongly targeted. In other words, they don’t hate advertising. They hate advertising that doesn’t apply to them.

This was a necessary component of advertising in the past. Companies were only able to advertise in the venues they believed their target audiences enjoyed. For example, a car commercial would seem to perform better during “manly” shows back in the days when gender was an issue in car buying. Today, there are as many (or more) female buyers of various vehicles as there are men. The old assumptions can be tossed out.

This is where the data comes into play. Companies like String Automotive compile the data they receive from various sources to help dealers make intelligent decisions about how to target, who to target, and where to target. This concept has become much more important today now that many dealers are putting half or more of their advertising dollars towards the internet.

It’s not simply a digital thing, though. There are certain models and certain zip codes where traditional advertising still offers the biggest bang for the buck. This might seem contrary to popular belief, but there are still people who read newspapers the old fashioned way… from an actual newspaper.

“As much as we would love for everything to be geared towards digital, we’ve seen the data,” said Subi Ghosh, Executive Vice President at automotive digital marketing firm Dealer Authority. “Dealers still see strong return on investment from places that many companies believe are obsolete.”

The key to proper advertising expenditures is following where the numbers point. Instinct can only get you so far. Sometimes, the numbers may go against common perspective, but there’s one thing the numbers have over opinions. They never lie.